1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the protective packaging systems and apparatuses therein, and more particularly to a creating a molded pulp cushion and tray packaging apparatus having a universal top and a universal bottom cushion for protectively accommodating fragile items often associated with electronic equipment, especially during post-manufacturing and transport, without the need for additional packing materials.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known that one way to protect electronic equipment (e.g., computer displays, electronic component boards, thin lead electronics, and the like) is to wrap or surround the equipment in packing foam, bubble wrap or polyurethane pellets before or concurrent with setting such equipment into a shipping container for transport. Other methods includes shipping these electronic components via parallelpiped cardboard containers, specially-molded containers or foam-injected boxing so as to minimize the movement of the equipment during transport. Unfortunately, each of these methods is only satisfactory in protecting the equipment during transport, and each have varied costs associated therewith.
It is also known to use foamed materials and even pulp-based materials in the construction of conventional packaging arrangements and assemblies. However, each has a set of known design and/or use limitations. For foam materials, though cushioning and protection are generally good characteristics, they use too much material and cannot be recycled economically. Pulp-based materials however, though abundant and relatively inexpensive, have proven to be inadequate for the routine or repeated transport of sensitive components and electrical devices. Given the negative economic and environmental aspects of non-pulp-based solutions in packaging, and the limited utility of traditional pulp-based packaging designs, it is desired that a pulp-based packaging assembly be developed.
Additionally, it is quite common in the industry, due in part to the lesser costs of using pulp-based materials, to redesign a packaging container for every unique type of product to be transported or shipped; this effort of redesigning or customizing to accommodate even variations within product lines is often time-consuming and costly in labor. The redesign effort may additionally be undertaken whenever there is a difference in the weight of a product as well. Additionally, where there is addition packaging assemblies for varied products in the same product families, there is also usually associated with those packaging assemblies, additional inventory, part numbers, material costs, tooling costs and efforts related to tracking.